A Letter to My Low Blood Sugar

I write to you with a sweaty forehead, but please don’t be offended–I promise I showered recently and was completely ready to leave the house for some errands, only to run into you instead. As I sip yet another box of juice–a tangy taste I’m sure I once enjoyed as a child, prior to losing the ability to produce my own insulin–I now find the taste of juice repulsive. That fruity, sweet-yet-sour taste reminds me of trembling, lightheadedness, vulnerability, and interruption. Juice may be my hero in any given moment, but I loathe it, and I wish often that it could be as tasteless as water. (Have you ever had to chug a box of juice right after brushing your teeth before bed? It is a flavor combination I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.)

And I write to you with dizziness, dearest Hypoglycemia, for I found myself staring at the computer screen while sitting securely on the couch, and yet the room seemed to be spinning. Or was it my computer spinning? Or perhaps just the couch? Are the dogs spinning? Alas, no, it was just a low blood sugar.

My not-so-sweet Hypoglycemia, I write to you attempting to exemplify patience and calamity but I must admit, I want nothing more than to drown you in the entire bottle of juice because the trembling in my fingers, the dizziness in my head, and the sweating on my forehead makes for a bit of anxiety that I would like nothing more than to put an end to.

But I resist, dearest Hypoglycemia. I resist with the utmost restraint because I know how much you adore your friend Hyperglycemia, and the trouble the both of you seem to cause if I give in to my brain’s desperate plea for more juice. More! More! I tell my brain I’ve already consumed 8 ounces of juice. I tell my brain to “shush” and be patient. And it doesn’t. But I resist, with, as I mentioned before, the utmost restraint. Please, Hypoglycemia, do not invite Hyperglycemia here today. The two of you may as well rename yourselves Beevis and Butthead for all I care, you are nothing but tedious and your jokes don’t make me laugh.

Dearest Hypoglycemia, now time has passed. Thank goodness. About 10 minutes have gone by, maybe 15, and while I glued myself to the couch in an effort to prevent drinking more horrible juice, I have recovered. And you, my friend (that’s being kind), are nowhere to be found. And my blood sugar has risen to a stable, safe number.

Yes: glucose tabs and Juicy Juice are at the top of the list for things I say “BLEH” to!

Dava

Amazing spot on this just happen to me a few days ago.. Im 24 with type 1.. I was just diagnosed 2 months ago sucks but getting used to it..

Ginger Vieira

Ah, welcome to the club, Dava! It ain’t easy, but the first few months are the hardest. Even on the days when it’s hard, dealing with the challenges of diabetes in general gets easier–I promise!

Michael O

Ginger’s right Dava… With experience the level of freaking out diminishes. There are still ‘events” but we know what to do with them

denglord

have u try sugar blocker.. its also a sugar but plant based… also blocked sugar absorption into your body.. http://eldainka.ludaxx.com

thagler65@gmail.com

You absolutely nailed it!

Ginger Vieira

Thanks for reading!

Rogo

Forget about teaching my hypo how to read. The only thing it understands is SKITTLES!!

Ginger Vieira

LOL

streetspirit70

I can relate with the after you brush your teeth low, Lol.

Or the creeping death 3-6am low, then you eat a granola bar, to damn tired to brush your teeth, and wonder why at 34 your teeth are falling out Lol.

Thanks for the good read.

Noah_Scape

I finally got a glucose meter – now I will know for sure if I crash so badly after eating because of low blood sugar/insulin flood. … but what if it ISN’T low? What else could it be?

Howling Rabbit

I have certainly had my share of hypoglycemic episodes. The most freaky ones have occurred when I’ve been sleeping. Imagine having some kind of weird dream and, at the same time, your brain has gone into lack-of-fuel mode. You are in a double-state of discombobulation. Many times I have fallen out of bed (onto a hard-wooden floor), not knowing where I was and hallucinating. And yet… something, some minuscule last ditch effort in my neurons starts shouting at me, “You goofball, EAT SOMETHING!” And so I do. This has happened even when my blood sugars must have been below 50! I find this incredibly fascinating. What is that literally life-saving capacity for the brain to muster some coherency when it is being swamped otherwise by utter confusion and chaos?

John

Thanks, Ginger, Though I suffer as you do, my long dangerous stretch of perpetual hypoglycemia (reading below 18mg/dl) rendered me incapable of recognizing it and treating it with juice. I don’t mind juice though I hated sugar water as a child and quite like honey now. it’s quicker and tastier and you might like it too. Bye for now, John

Bernice Moeller-Bloom

Great Letter, thanks! Funniest Hypoglycemia story…when I was pregnant…I woke my husband with the shaking of my limbs against the bed…When he got me upright and went to check my BS…I said, “I don’t know you, but you seem like a nice man.” Thank goodness I didn’t scream and try to hit him…

Mekaylah

coconut water!

Henry

Hah! Very well put. I just wish my Mrs was as introspective about her Hypos. I would probably have my own poetic verse to say about it, but it wouldn’t he half as polite. Seeing a hypo in someone you love is horrible, and the way my partner treats me when she’s hypo would be considered unforgivable if she were in her right mind. I would go so far as to say it’s a bit like Jekyl and Hyde.